Ardian closes Expansion Fund III on €450m

Expansion Fund III was officially launched in Q1 2013 and represents a 41% increase in size from Fund II, which closed on €353m in July 2007, six months after launch. According to unquote" data, Fund II's initial target was €250m.

The third fund will have a lifespan of 8 years, with the option for LPs to request two one-year extensions.

Investors
Investors across Europe, North America and Asia committed to the vehicle, with almost 80% of commitments coming from Ardian's existing LP base. European insurance companies and pension funds make up the majority of the fund's investor base.To join the fund, a minimum commitment of €3m is necessary but anything below this is subject to management's discretion.

Axa Private Equity, from which Ardian span out in a management buyout in September 2013, is also a significant LP in the fund. The firm has committed €4.8bn to all Ardian new-generation funds between 2013 and 2018. Italian state-supported investor Fondo Italiano is also an LP in Ardian's latest fund.

Investments
Where Ardian's previous fund was managed by a team of 12, the third fund is being deployed by a 16-strong team, focusing on investments in the French, Italian and German markets. Growth capital and buyout transactions in companies valued at up to €500m will form the bulk of investments from Expansion Fund III.

The average investment size will stand at €30m, with equity tickets ranging from €15m to €50m. Ardian will target businesses with an enterprise value of less than €150m.

Ardian's investment strategy is to commit half of the fund to French companies, with the remaining 50% split equally between German and Italian businesses. The GP is interested in companies which are already exposed to emerging markets in order to bypass the eurozone's low growth. Ardian then implements a buy-and-build strategy, using local knowledge from their teams across all three countries.

France was Ardian's initial focus due to its links with insurer Axa. It then expanded into Germany and finally to Italy in 2007. The GP has no current plans to pursue deals in the UK market, citing its competitive nature as the determining factor.

Almost a quarter of the new fund has already been committed in four European investments. Ardian invested in the secondary buyout of Frostkrone, a German frozen finger-food producer, from Argantis Private Equity in September 2012. In December 2013, Ardian invested €30m in CLS Group, a satellite-based environmental data provider, in the same month as it reinvested in Synerlab, a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm. Last month, Ardian took a 49% stake in Micropross, a French supplier of products and testing solutions for the smartcard industry.

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• Topics
• France
• Funds
• France
• Ardian (formerly Axa PE)